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What Does the New Collections Center In QuickBooks 2011 Do?

Chief Mechanic · September 18, 2010 ·

QuickBooks 2011 and Enterprise Solutions 11.0 include a new Collections Center that enables you to quickly and selectively send bulk emails to customers with overdue or almost due invoices.

To access the Collections Center, start by opening the Customer Center, then click on the Collections Center link at the top of the window.

The Collections Center has 2 tabs: one showing Overdue invoices, and the other showing Almost Due invoices. You can selectively send emails to customers with invoices appearing on either list, and the techniques for doing so are the same. We’ll focus on sending emails to customers with overdue invoices.

Invoices are grouped by Customer Name, and you can sort the list by either Customer Name, the total customer Balance, or the Days Overdue. To sort by a particular column, simply click on the column header.

The Contact column contains the customer’s phone number, so the Collections Center could serve as a great tool for a call list. You can document a phone conversation with the customer or any other internal information (such as the reasoning for a decision not to call or send an email) by clicking on the icon in the Notes/Warnings column. This will bring up an editor that is positioned at the top of the note and has already added a date/time stamp. Previously recorded notes are saved and appear below.

QuickBooks 2011 Collections Center Notes

When you’re ready to select which customers (and for which invoices) should be sent emails, click the Select and Send Email link at the top of the Collections Center. If you want to return to reviewing the list, click the Back button.

QuickBooks 2011 Collections Center Send Mass Email

You can select which customers will receive emails by clicking the checkbox to the left of the invoice number. By default, all overdue invoices for all customers on the Overdue tab are selected, but you can easily deselect one or more invoices from any customer. If you remove the checkbox on all invoices for a given customer, that customer won’t receive an email. Selected invoices are attached as PDF files to your email and are sent using your selection of email client. To make sending forms easier, QuickBooks 2011 includes updated options for sending forms.

In the email form to the right of the list, you can change the default email message. Only 1 message will be sent to all customers currently selected, so be sure to craft a generic message that applies to all of your selections. If you want to send different email messages to different customer groups, you’ll have to select each customer group and complete the sending process before selecting another customer group.

When you’re satisfied with both your selections and email message, click the Send button. QuickBooks will notify you that the process is complete, but you can choose to block this message after the first appearance.

To manage the default messages for overdue and almost due invoices, QuickBooks 2011 has added 2 new message options. You can manage the default message for any form, including these 2 new options, by clicking on the Company Preferences tab of the Send Forms sub-menu on the Edit->Preferences menu selection.

The Collections Center is a valuable addition for businesses that want a unified tool to review customer invoices, document any discussions with customers or internal decisions, and easily send selected invoices to customers in bulk.

(+1 rating, 3 votes)

Does QuickBooks 2011 Offer New Ways To Send Forms?

Chief Mechanic · September 17, 2010 ·

Yes. Starting with QuickBooks 2011 and Enterprise Solutions 11.0, in addition to Outlook and QuickBooks Email, QuickBooks users can choose to send forms, such as invoices or statements, via web-based email systems, including:

Gmail
Hotmail/Live
Yahoo
Other SMTP email

Here’s a screenshot of the Send Forms sub-menu of the Edit->Preferences menu selection:

Users of versions prior to QuickBooks 2011 have more limited methods to send forms.

With the addition of new web-based email options, Intuit removed QuickBooks Email as an option unless you’ve paid more to be an active subscriber to another Intuit supported service, including:

Intuit Payroll
QuickBooks Merchant Services
ProAdvisor Program
Accountant’s Copy File Transfer
QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Full Service Plan
QuickBooks Billing Solutions
Intuit Solution Provider Program
QuickBooks Pro/Premier Plus

(-1 rating, 1 votes)

What Are the Service Changes for Exchanging an Accountant’s Copy In QuickBooks 2011?

Chief Mechanic · September 17, 2010 ·

Beginning with QuickBooks 2011 and Enterprise Solutions 11.0, accountants and their clients that need to exchange Accountant’s Copy files via Intuit’s secure servers will incur a fee of $9.95 per year. Users can continue to exchange files using email other than QuickBooks Email or using a physical device, such as a USB drive.

Users of QuickBooks 2010 and earlier (including Pro, Premier, and Enterprise Solutions 10.0) can continue to use Intuit’s secure servers free of charge subject to Intuit’s service discontinuation policy.

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QuickBooks 2011 Coming By September 17th

Chief Mechanic · September 16, 2010 ·

Intuit announced last night that QuickBooks 2011 and Enterprise Solutions 11.0 will be available by September 17, 2010, including via electronic download from our Buy QuickBooks page.

On tap for 2011 are:

A new Collections Center to make it easy to send overdue invoices to customers via email
Support for batch invoicing
Balance sheets by class – Intuit might have finally addressed the lack of support for fund accounting
Multi-instance capability in Premier Accountant Edition, allowing 2 company files from the same version open at the same time
A separate File Manager utility that can help firms running multiple QuickBooks files across multiple versions
Subtle improvements across multiple features accessed in everyday use
A variety of changes to Intuit services

New features have been added selectively to the different QuickBooks products, so check out our updated article describing the feature differences between Pro and Premier.

As with any new version, it will take some time for firms to change operating procedures to take advantage of the new features. For example, while the addition of a Balance Sheet By Class report will solve many business problems, it will trigger a lot of future posts in our KnowledgeBase describing how to use this feature because debits and credits will have to be balanced by class – something QuickBooks users haven’t confronted before QuickBooks 2011.

Here’s an overview of the new File Manager:

Some of the subtle improvements include:

the addition of a Customer tab to the Company Snapshot, showing (among other things) 2 key metrics: length of time as a customer and average days to pay
the addition of a History tab to important windows, such as Enter Bills, Create Invoices, and Create Credit Memos/Refunds; the History tab can be quickly opened and closed, and shows a Summary, Recent Transactions, and Notes for the vendor or customer

Tweaks such as the added History tabs make it easy to get around QuickBooks in fewer keystrokes in less time. That drives productivity improvements in busy offices – and can help make the cost of upgrading a good investment.

Over the next few weeks, kook for more articles on the new QuickBooks 2011 in our KnowledgeBase.

It’s premature to say whether these changes make QuickBooks 2011 a worthwhile upgrade. This upgrade is definitely not like the introduction of QuickBooks 2009, which added a major new feature in the form of support for multi-currency. However, with each passing year and the addition of new features, QuickBooks becomes a more mature product, so there are fewer “blockbuster” features available to add.

Still, it is unfortunate that Intuit has decided to pursue some short-sighted ways to add revenue. For 2011, there are a variety of small fees, such as the $4.99 fee to revise a previously saved form design. They’ve also made changes to the QuickBooks Pro product, such as limiting it to a maximum of 3 users, which can effectively force upgraders to purchase the more expensive QuickBooks Premier.

The market reaction to higher costs without eye-popping new features is likely to be a yawn.

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What Does Error Code 12002 Mean?

Chief Mechanic · September 13, 2010 ·

According to Intuit, error code 12002 can occur when updating QuickBooks or updating a QuickBooks payroll service. The error is caused by:

a network timeout that is preventing QuickBooks from accessing the server
internet connection problems
internet security or firewall settings that are blocking the connection
the fact that Internet Explorer may not be the default browser
incorrect SSL settings

Troubleshooting this error depends on the situation in which the error occurred.

Situation 1 – The Error Occurred Updating QuickBooks Itself

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Internet Connection Setup 2

Click Next.

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Internet Connection Setup 3

Click Done and try to perform the update again.

For more information troubleshooting this error when updating QuickBooks itself, consult this Intuit knowledge base article.

Situation 2 – The Error Occurred Updating a QuickBooks Payroll Service

Check your Internet Connection Setup in QuickBooks from the Help->Internet Connection Setup menu selection. Verify that your connection is set to use your computer’s internet connection (screen shot shown above) and click Next. Click the Advanced Connection Settings… button to display the Internet Properties window. On the Advanced tab, verify that Use SSL 2.0 and Use SSL 3.0 are checked. Click Apply and then Ok. Keep in mind that this change will affect your connection to the internet using Internet Explorer.

QuickBooks Premier 2008 Internet Properties Advanced SSL

Close and re-start QuickBooks; attempt to update the QuickBooks payroll service. For more information troubleshooting SSL settings, consult this Intuit knowledge base article.

If your Internet Properties were set correctly, the error may be caused by security or firewall software blocking access to certain programs. Consult this Intuit knowledge base article to troubleshoot access for QuickBooks programs.

For more information troubleshooting this error when updating a payroll service, consult this Intuit knowledge base article.

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